Recently I decided to go back to my roots and design and distribute a door hangar for a local fitness club in Bolton. In fact, I used the opportunity as a home school experience for my two children and walked them through the whole process of getting paid a few cents per piece for delivery to visiting the club and watching the Membership Coordinator convert the prospect to a member.

I actually enjoyed personally distributing the pieces as part of my cardio component of my training and was able to hang 100 flyers in a 30 minute period. Now before you pass any judgments, it all the depends on the neighborhood, how far apart the homes are, how long the driveways and how many steps to the front door.

We chose the door hangar over the flyer and came up with an eye catching look and message, guaranteed to have the prospect turn it over to read on. Just picture walking up to your door and seeing a 4X10 door hangar with the words "30 Days of Smoking, Drinking and Swearing" See, what did I tell you, I bet you want to see the front and back of this piece. Click on the PDF below to check it out and post some comments below. It's a message that I pulled out of the archives of my time working with Extreme Fitness in Toronto in the 90's.

I got a real kick when I came across a home owner sitting on their front porch having a smoke. One lady laughed and commented on my great sense of timing. There is something extremely satisfying that comes from designing a piece, distributing it and watching it lead to sales and eventually members who get results.

Here are some final thoughts on my experience. Why not have a contest with your members and have them distribute door hangars on their street. Have a contest that if anyone registers for a membership from their area they will receive 6 months free. That will keep your mailing costs down and neighbors will have someone on their street who is already a member to answer any questions or to reinforce that your club is the place to be. Why not go one step further with your member's consent and design a door hangar that simply says "Your neighbor is a member and loves our club - here's your friendly neighborhood discount" and hang them on either side of the member's home.

The total cost for 10,000 door hangars, two sided, with design, printing, delivery and taxes came in at $1400. I'll let you know how we did in a couple of weeks. If we even sell 4 memberships, its well worth the exposure.

Welcome to another edition of the Pro Fitness Program News. Click on the PDF below to read all about how your facility performed in August.

In this month's edition RVC Fitness Director Jen Karr Muzzey discusses how her club set a new single month personal training sales record. You're not going to believe this number! Also find out what happened to Jeff Russo when he got back into the Consultation office last week and took on two assessments. In addition, learn the secret to how Laconia Athletic sold 30 Annual Consultations and why they believe so much in the program.

We always welcome your comments and suggestions below and please support your fellow fitness professionals with some encouraging words.